Best PlacesSan Rafael, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Rafael, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
San Rafael ranks 680th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in San Rafael
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in San Rafael
The parts of San Rafael, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Peacock Gap & Country Club San Rafael
Terra Linda, Northgate & Marinwood
Sun Valley-San Francisco
Lincoln & Dominican-Black Canyon
Picnic Valley, Downtown San Rafael & Francisco Boulevard West
Santa Venetia & Civic Center San Rafael
Montecito
Scores across San Rafael run from about the 24th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
San Rafael's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Rafael ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of cities
- BikingBetter than 93% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 166 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of cities
- Household income$136,817 median, better than 86% of cities
Where San Rafael ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,211 a month, better than only 1% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in San Rafael
A household needs to earn about $335,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Rafael home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $136,817, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses San Rafael's effective rate of 0.83%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in San Rafael
San Rafael runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Rafael.
Who works in San Rafael, and how
Work in San Rafael centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in San Rafael
San Rafael has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of cities and more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. The coast is about 13 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of San Rafael and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in San Rafael, month by month
San Rafael sees roughly 166 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 66° | 52° |
| October | 79° | 61° | 47° |
Flying in and out of San Rafael
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 25 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around San Rafael
Schools across San Rafael average a B−, better than 48% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sun Valley ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Glenwood ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Loma Verde ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- White Hill MiddleA · 62% proficient
- San Jose IntermediateB− · 41% proficient
- James B. Davidson MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Terra Linda HighB+ · 53% proficient
- San Rafael HighB · 49% proficient
- Novato HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Rafael school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Rafael measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare San Rafael against the other 2,097 cities.
Who San Rafael suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in San Rafael
Is San Rafael a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Rafael ranks 680th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, biking, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Rafael expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,275,642. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $136,817 median income, cost of living beats 61% of cities.
Is San Rafael safe?
San Rafael is safer than 16% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $502 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Rafael?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 42. That works out to about 166 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in San Rafael?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Peacock Gap & Country Club San Rafael, Terra Linda, Northgate & Marinwood, and Sun Valley-San Francisco. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare San Rafael with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Rafael. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Rafael represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
San Rafael detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Rafael: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Rafael: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Rafael: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Rafael: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Rafael detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.